Welcome to the Decade’s Weekly! Every week it brings you the latest news from the International Decade for Action ’Water for Life’ 2005-2015. Please feel free to forward this newsletter. You can also access this newsletter online.

Tip of the week

Now available! A series of Water and Energy interviews with participants of the UN-Water Annual International Zaragoza Conference, Zaragoza, Spain, 13-16 January 2014.

Just a few days left before the World celebrates the importance of water for energy and energy for water

Date: 20 to 22 March 2014
Place: Worldwide and in Tokyo, Japan
Lead by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations University (UNU)

This year, World Water Day will focus on the relationship and interlinkages between Water and Energy. Throughout the year events such as the UN-Water Annual Conference in Zaragoza, Spain have looked at how the inter-linkages between these two vital areas have an important role to play in the Post-2015 development agenda and the conceptualization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Anybody can take part in this global awareness event and an advocacy guide is available to promote your interaction.

Although there are many events taking place all over the World, this year the main official UN event will be celebrated in Tokyo, Japan, where UN-Water will be hosting a Journalist Workshop to help improve coverage of water and energy issues and initiate a collaborative network of water and energy focused journalists. The event will also see the presentation of UN-Water ’Water for Life Best Practice’ Awards, where acknowledgement will be given to projects that have achieved notable success in water related practices. The 21st of March will see the launch of the ’World Water Development Report’ (WWDR2014), which this year also focuses on water and energy issues.

Every two months, the UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication (UNW-DPAC) Bimonthly Publications Review brings you the latest publications produced by United Nations agencies and programmes on issues related to water and sanitation. The 20th edition contains 26 publications on a variety of topics including: the Post-2015 process, river basin case studies, guidance manuals, information briefs, tool kits and many more. For useful technical, research or media reference download the bi-monthly now and access the electronic version of these publications from the UN-Documentation Centre on Water and Sanitation.>> Bi-monthly publications review 20

#WWDR2014Energy production and water supply interdependent, and both at risk, shows new UN report

Demand for energy production will increase significantly in coming decades, especially in emerging economies. This may have a negative impact on water resources unless the management and coordination between both domains is dramatically improved. This is one of the key findings of the United Nations World Water Development Report 2014 (WWDR), which will be launched in Tokyo (Japan) on 21 March, World Water Day. The extraction, transportation and treatment of water involve a considerable amount of energy, while the extraction of fossil fuels and production of electricity require huge amounts of water. One cannot be done without the other. Entitled "Water and Energy", the WWDR highlights the interdependency of the two sectors. Through exhaustive data, analysis and case studies, it shows how the choices made in one area have repercussions in the other: for example, droughts exacerbate energy shortages while energy shortages in turn limit irrigation capacity. The Report is under embargo until 21 March. Advance access is available to the media on demand.>> More information

#WaterCooperationTaking stock of the International Year of Water Cooperation and Advancing the Global Water Agenda post-2015

Date: 11 March 2014.
Time: 9:30 am-1:00 pm
Place: Trusteeship Council Chamber, United Nations Headquarters, New York, USA
Organizers: The UN Permanent Missions of Finland, Hungary, Switzerland, Tajikistan and Thailand, the Friends of Water Group and UN-Water

This special roundtable event will bring together High-level UN officials to discuss and build upon the achievements and lessons learnt from the International Year of Water Cooperation (IYWC) with emphasis on how to carry the Global Water Agenda forward. The event will include two roundtable sessions ’The IYWC and beyond’ and ’Sharing lessons and experiences on water and disasters.’>> More information and programme

#CSW58Commission on the status of Women, implementing the MDGs for Women and Girls

Date: 10-21 March 2014
Place: United Nations Headquarters, New York

The 58th annual meeting of the Commission of the Status of Women (CSW) will focus on the challenges and achievements of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for Women and Girls. Representatives of Member States, UN entities and ECOSOC accredited non-governmental organizations from all regions of the World will discuss the participation of Women and Girls, particularly in the emerging theme of access to productive resources. In the draft of agreed conclusions to be discussed, the Commission acknowledges that, while progress has been made in access to safe drinking water, progress on access to basic sanitation has been particularly slow and that emphasis also needs to made on the multiple factors contributing to Women’s poverty such as the right to food security and water.>> More information

From the Decade’s Programmes

#CasaSolansDialogues7th UN Water Dialogue in Casa Solans: Water and Sanitation in Central America. Challenges for the implementation of the Post-2015 agenda

The 7th UN Water Dialogue in Casa Solans provided an opportunity to present and discuss the recommendations of UN-Water for a Global Goal on Water and the specific challenges in Central America in reference to the implementation of the Human Right to Water and Sanitation. Participants from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic introduced the specific challenges and priorities for action in their countries. For many of them, legal recognition is a reality and represents a unique opportunity for a new wave of water policies. Participants emphasized the importance of participative processes for designing policies and actions and the importance of coherence and coordination, especially given the fact there are many actors, including NGOs, international donors and organizations and local and national actors. Some key activities emerged as priorities such as the need to support changes in national policies (beyond legislation alone) and citizens’ awareness-raising of the implications the UN Resolution has on the Human Right to water and sanitation.>> Agenda